Monday, January 26, 2004
Class 14
There's really nothing to say today because our class was cancelled because of the giant snow the night before. Today was supposed to be the last day of class, where we could enjoy the company of all the other classmates for one last time before we share our final projects. We were also supposed to share our stories in class, which would have been fun. In our short story, my group decided to be tricky and create a plot twist, like many of the common authors do in Science Fiction. You'll have to read it (www.elon.edu/student/eyang/story.html). But instead of going to class today, I decided to finish up some minor details for my web page before I publish it online. This has been a new form of design that I was able to play around with and I'm really happy I got the chance. Hopefully you guys will check out my web page and enjoy it!
There's really nothing to say today because our class was cancelled because of the giant snow the night before. Today was supposed to be the last day of class, where we could enjoy the company of all the other classmates for one last time before we share our final projects. We were also supposed to share our stories in class, which would have been fun. In our short story, my group decided to be tricky and create a plot twist, like many of the common authors do in Science Fiction. You'll have to read it (www.elon.edu/student/eyang/story.html). But instead of going to class today, I decided to finish up some minor details for my web page before I publish it online. This has been a new form of design that I was able to play around with and I'm really happy I got the chance. Hopefully you guys will check out my web page and enjoy it!
Friday, January 23, 2004
Class 13
Today was one was a good day in Science Fiction. Everyday is actually really fun, but today was nice and relaxing and it was due to the fact that we finished our short story the day before. We also discussed in class about what everybody thought of the class. It was definatly nice to hear all the different responses that people answered. Some of the things that I hated like the story "Bloodchild" were some people's favorites, but on the other hand, my favorites were also others favorites such as "Ender's game". Like I said in my response that I've shared, this class has definatly made me open my eyes to a broader perspective in science fiction. Although this class has not made me want to read science fiction everyday, it has not made me want to flip the channel everytime there's a science fiction show on TV. It's been fun Paula!
Today was one was a good day in Science Fiction. Everyday is actually really fun, but today was nice and relaxing and it was due to the fact that we finished our short story the day before. We also discussed in class about what everybody thought of the class. It was definatly nice to hear all the different responses that people answered. Some of the things that I hated like the story "Bloodchild" were some people's favorites, but on the other hand, my favorites were also others favorites such as "Ender's game". Like I said in my response that I've shared, this class has definatly made me open my eyes to a broader perspective in science fiction. Although this class has not made me want to read science fiction everyday, it has not made me want to flip the channel everytime there's a science fiction show on TV. It's been fun Paula!
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Class 11
Today, I missed class due to illness. But due to the fact that I got to lay in bed watching tv all day, I decided to take advantage and expand my science fiction education though television. Although I was fading in and out when watching tv, the first show I watched was some movie about aliens. With the parts I did catch of the movie, I noticed that aliens were very similar to what humans looked like. In the movie, the director must have portrayed alien beings to look like humans with pointy ears. Although this movie portrayed aliens with pointy ears, the next movie I watched on the Sci Fi channel showed a movie containing aliens from another planet. These aliens were portrayed with no hair. From all the alien movies I've seen, many of them contain aliens with a bald head. Why is that? Maybe they purposely show people with no hair in order to show the weird wrinkles in one's head, like the next character in the next movie I watched. Like a Star Trek character, this alien was made up as one who had yellow skin with brown patches all over his skin (sort of like a reptile). His forehead had two sets of wrinkles that parted outwards. His ears were oddly shaped, but I can't really explain what they looked like in words. After watching a day's worth of odd sci movies, I find it interesting on how people vision aliens.
Today, I missed class due to illness. But due to the fact that I got to lay in bed watching tv all day, I decided to take advantage and expand my science fiction education though television. Although I was fading in and out when watching tv, the first show I watched was some movie about aliens. With the parts I did catch of the movie, I noticed that aliens were very similar to what humans looked like. In the movie, the director must have portrayed alien beings to look like humans with pointy ears. Although this movie portrayed aliens with pointy ears, the next movie I watched on the Sci Fi channel showed a movie containing aliens from another planet. These aliens were portrayed with no hair. From all the alien movies I've seen, many of them contain aliens with a bald head. Why is that? Maybe they purposely show people with no hair in order to show the weird wrinkles in one's head, like the next character in the next movie I watched. Like a Star Trek character, this alien was made up as one who had yellow skin with brown patches all over his skin (sort of like a reptile). His forehead had two sets of wrinkles that parted outwards. His ears were oddly shaped, but I can't really explain what they looked like in words. After watching a day's worth of odd sci movies, I find it interesting on how people vision aliens.
Class 12
Today we watched the movie "trekkies" and after the movie, there was a small debate on whether or not Star Trek fans take it to the extreme or not. Bill mentioned the fact that he couldn't believe the fact people would make Star Trek their whole entire life. He used the examples that people will travel millions of miles to attend Star Trek conventions, they would spend months before creating costumes just for a convention, and they would spend more than a thousand dollars on Star Trek collectibles. But Sean brought up the point that most people are just doing this for fun, like a hobby. He also brought up the point that people dress up in suits when they go to work or the fact that fans of sports teams will wear jerseys of the team to represent their appriciation for the team. As they were arguing, I was thinking what is my stance on topic is and I came up with something along the lines with what Sean was saying. Although I'm not a fan of Star Trek, I think the fans of Star Trek have the right to do anything they feel like doing as long as they follow the law that have been set by the government. As people were thinking up similar comparasions to make trekkies seem more reasonable, I thought of the exmaple of Roadies and how they obsess over certain bands. Isn't that basically the same concept? I guess some people just don't believe or understand the concept of something in the future...i think that's what it all boils down to.
Today we watched the movie "trekkies" and after the movie, there was a small debate on whether or not Star Trek fans take it to the extreme or not. Bill mentioned the fact that he couldn't believe the fact people would make Star Trek their whole entire life. He used the examples that people will travel millions of miles to attend Star Trek conventions, they would spend months before creating costumes just for a convention, and they would spend more than a thousand dollars on Star Trek collectibles. But Sean brought up the point that most people are just doing this for fun, like a hobby. He also brought up the point that people dress up in suits when they go to work or the fact that fans of sports teams will wear jerseys of the team to represent their appriciation for the team. As they were arguing, I was thinking what is my stance on topic is and I came up with something along the lines with what Sean was saying. Although I'm not a fan of Star Trek, I think the fans of Star Trek have the right to do anything they feel like doing as long as they follow the law that have been set by the government. As people were thinking up similar comparasions to make trekkies seem more reasonable, I thought of the exmaple of Roadies and how they obsess over certain bands. Isn't that basically the same concept? I guess some people just don't believe or understand the concept of something in the future...i think that's what it all boils down to.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Class 10
Today we watched the movie the Matrix. After being in this class for about two weeks, I watched this movie from a different perspective, A SF perspective. This really doesn't mean much except for the fact that I truely understood more of the technical terms. When they talk about the matrix and how you enter the matrix, I understand it to a fuller degree. One thing that I like about this movie that i didn't notice before is the way they learn things how programs can be installed in a matter of seconds in order for you to learn things. Like in the movie when Trinity needs to learn how to fly a helicoptor, the program is installed. Computers of today work in a similar fashion where the user needs to install a program and the computer learns what the program is about. Once the installation is complete, the program is able to be used by the user. I wonder how long it will take for what happens in the movie to be invented and used on earth. Some people always say taht soldiers can be programed like machines. In many movies, soldiers are portrayed as indistructible machines sometimes. I guess the question I pose for myself to think about is...What if...we were able to learn things by having it installed in us?
Today we watched the movie the Matrix. After being in this class for about two weeks, I watched this movie from a different perspective, A SF perspective. This really doesn't mean much except for the fact that I truely understood more of the technical terms. When they talk about the matrix and how you enter the matrix, I understand it to a fuller degree. One thing that I like about this movie that i didn't notice before is the way they learn things how programs can be installed in a matter of seconds in order for you to learn things. Like in the movie when Trinity needs to learn how to fly a helicoptor, the program is installed. Computers of today work in a similar fashion where the user needs to install a program and the computer learns what the program is about. Once the installation is complete, the program is able to be used by the user. I wonder how long it will take for what happens in the movie to be invented and used on earth. Some people always say taht soldiers can be programed like machines. In many movies, soldiers are portrayed as indistructible machines sometimes. I guess the question I pose for myself to think about is...What if...we were able to learn things by having it installed in us?
Friday, January 16, 2004
Class 9
Today was a fun fill day...at least compared to the other days. We were able to get into our groups and decide our topic for our SF short story. My group, a very ambitious at that, immediatly jumped at the chance to share their ideas. It was quite funny with the ideas we came up with. Trying to come up with different ideas, we came up with stuff like "what if gore beat bush", "what if iraq took over the country", and "what if greek life took over the world" were just some of the ideas. But in the end, we narrowed it down to three topics which were time travel, robots created humans, and alternative endings to historical events. The funny thing is that it took us about 20 minutes to think of all the ideas and narrow it down to our 3 favorite but it only took us 5 minutes after that to disband that whole idea and create a totally different scenero. So our new topic deals with a civilization that is attacked by aliens, something basic that we can use our imagination to improve it. But anyway...today was fun and creative and I admit that my range and understanding of science fiction has expanded since the beginning of this class!
Today was a fun fill day...at least compared to the other days. We were able to get into our groups and decide our topic for our SF short story. My group, a very ambitious at that, immediatly jumped at the chance to share their ideas. It was quite funny with the ideas we came up with. Trying to come up with different ideas, we came up with stuff like "what if gore beat bush", "what if iraq took over the country", and "what if greek life took over the world" were just some of the ideas. But in the end, we narrowed it down to three topics which were time travel, robots created humans, and alternative endings to historical events. The funny thing is that it took us about 20 minutes to think of all the ideas and narrow it down to our 3 favorite but it only took us 5 minutes after that to disband that whole idea and create a totally different scenero. So our new topic deals with a civilization that is attacked by aliens, something basic that we can use our imagination to improve it. But anyway...today was fun and creative and I admit that my range and understanding of science fiction has expanded since the beginning of this class!
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Class 8
Today in class we watched the movie Men in Black. Along with the movie, we were required to read some articles on race. All this material that were have been analyzing brought up the point was Will Smith casted in this movie to talk about race. Many people believe that Smith was casted to represent the minority, but I actually didn't think so. I think race had nothing to do with it. My personal opinion on race is that it should be an issue. Media has made it an issue just to create an arguement and some contradiction. I strongly believe that the media and government has created such a issue about race because life wouldn't be interesting if everything worked out. Yes, some issues about race should be covered, but not to the extent where people make everything in all situations have something to do with race. IT's gone to far and people should realize it. That's all I have to say!
Today in class we watched the movie Men in Black. Along with the movie, we were required to read some articles on race. All this material that were have been analyzing brought up the point was Will Smith casted in this movie to talk about race. Many people believe that Smith was casted to represent the minority, but I actually didn't think so. I think race had nothing to do with it. My personal opinion on race is that it should be an issue. Media has made it an issue just to create an arguement and some contradiction. I strongly believe that the media and government has created such a issue about race because life wouldn't be interesting if everything worked out. Yes, some issues about race should be covered, but not to the extent where people make everything in all situations have something to do with race. IT's gone to far and people should realize it. That's all I have to say!
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Class 7
After watching the movie Star Trek: First Contact, I found there to be many interesting ways that the movie tried to portray reality that's a little more advanced than today's technology. My favorite comparason is the one with the borg and today's insects. Freshman year, I remember studying about how insects and bugs get sprayed with pesticides. Some insects die, but others live and the ones do, may become immune to the poison. Years after they first become immune, they reproduct and pass that gene on to their children making the next generation immune to the poison as well. Eventually, all bugs become immune to the pesticide and the farmer will need to find something else to spray and kill the insects. In the Star Trek movies, Blogs do the same thing, but with weapons fired at them. The first round of shots will kill and destroy the borgs, but soon after that, the borgs change and adapt to the weapon being fired at them. It's really funny how SF can seem so complicated with the advancements, but when it comes down to it, it's as simple as bugs and pesticides.
After watching the movie Star Trek: First Contact, I found there to be many interesting ways that the movie tried to portray reality that's a little more advanced than today's technology. My favorite comparason is the one with the borg and today's insects. Freshman year, I remember studying about how insects and bugs get sprayed with pesticides. Some insects die, but others live and the ones do, may become immune to the poison. Years after they first become immune, they reproduct and pass that gene on to their children making the next generation immune to the poison as well. Eventually, all bugs become immune to the pesticide and the farmer will need to find something else to spray and kill the insects. In the Star Trek movies, Blogs do the same thing, but with weapons fired at them. The first round of shots will kill and destroy the borgs, but soon after that, the borgs change and adapt to the weapon being fired at them. It's really funny how SF can seem so complicated with the advancements, but when it comes down to it, it's as simple as bugs and pesticides.
